I have two very different children. I mean that in the sense that they are different to each other, but also that they are, or can be, different. Atypical. Not the norm, whatever that is. And just to keep me a even higher on my toes (toe-walking!), sometimes they behave very typically, and that confuses me the most of all.

Lately in our house, we have been dealing with a lot of untruths. Cubby is a gifted story-teller, and has been from an early age. I sometimes question whether he can tell the difference between fact and fiction, so immersed is he in his alternate reality. He’ll even assure us that he is not lying as he states things that aren’t true…such as his assertion one evening this week that his school is teaching him to speak Norwegian.

Back when we were in the U.S. a couple of months ago, a lady at the park started speaking to me in Spanish, and after a couple of sentences revealed that I am not exactly a native speaker, she told me that Cubby had informed her that we came from Mexico (he has never been there) and he spoke English because his nanny (we’ve never had one) is from Australia (again, never been there).

I’m puzzled by all of this, because our real backstory is just as interesting as this one he chose to create. I struggled to find a purpose for him telling a complete stranger this misinformation. A friend suggested that it is just more interesting to him, and our reality, even one that spans the world, is mundane to him. He has been there, done that, and other locations are new to him, and therefore intrinsically more exciting.

Pudding is different. I used to believe the myth that autistic children don’t tell lies, but Pudding has disabused me of that, and many other ‘facts’ about autism over the years. She just doesn’t lie on the same scale as her brother. Her more recent untruths have been more pragmatic in nature. They have a function that is very clear to me. Unlike her brother, I understand why she lies. Often it is for the same mundane reasons of most children: she wants to avoid getting into trouble for something she knows she wasn’t supposed to do, or she wants to get something she wants.

But while easier to understand, and certainly easier to deal with than Cubby’s untruths, Pudding’s simple lies are the ones that scare me the most.

As you may know, Pudding has a life-threatening allergy to peanuts and tree nuts. We’ve known this since she was a baby, and her whole life we’ve taught her that she must always avoid these items, as well as many other foods that look safe, but may contain items that are very dangerous to her. She has been able to say from the age of three that she is allergic, and will sometimes volunteer this information about herself to others.

While she carries an epi-pen, and her school cafeteria doesn’t offer nuts, and her classroom is “nut-free” for snacks, we still rely on her to keep herself safe. An incredibly challenging thing for any young child, but more so in the case of one with the additional mix of autism and ADHD.

Imagine then, how scared I was at this story her aide recounted to me last week. It was snack time, and one of the other girls had cookies. A most covetable item at the best of times, but when compared to the healthy choices I’d sent with Pudding (carrots and cucumber sticks with rice cakes), the temptation had been too much.

Noticing Pudding’s gaze, the girl wanted to share. But what is more, before she did, she actually asked Pudding if she had any allergies.

And Pudding said no.

A lie that could, quite literally, kill her.

In this instance, there were no dire consequences. Her wonderful aide was right there, and intervened immediately. There were no nuts in the cookies (thank you, parents who obey nut-free rules), and we know to continue to reiterate the dangers of taking food we don’t know to be safe.

It is messy, this parenting thing. Allowing our kids to be themselves, develop naturally, and yet keep them safe is the hardest thing to do. And that, my friends, is no lie.

This post is part of my A-Z series. You can read the rest by clicking >here<.

First day of First Grade, complete with social story in her hand. First day for Pudding, at least- the rest of her classmates started last Wednesday, but we were still quarantined after the operation. Though I’m anxious to know how her day went, I know she is in good hands. Her new teacher emailed me to say she’d not only read my last post, she’d pinned it to her wall.

Work. Work is busy. Work is…American. This is the American Dream. You puts in hard efforts, and you gets big rewards. We all buy that, right?

I remember when we first got Pudding’s autism diagnosis (actually, Asperger’s diagnosis, but I’ll come to that) how I thought that we could extend the American Dream to apply to this situation. The Autism Dream. I was a new immigrant to this unfamiliar land, you’ll forgive me.

If I worked hard enough, if we did enough therapies. If we tried this therapy, or bought this app. If we just put in enough efforts, we’d get the rewards we deserved.

And what would those results be? TIme has changed my answer to that, like it has so many values I took as sacrosanct. But back then, I hoped for results and improvements, measurable values that we can find in the world of work, but impossible to apply to my daughter.

Still, I had ambition, and I was prepared to graft.

Then yesterday came the results of our reevaluation, which were at once completely expected, and a shock that has left me reeling. We need to do frequent reevaluations to apply to international schools and set up our therapeutic programs. That whole free and appropriate education provided by law just doesn’t apply to us overseas.

And so now we find that the Asperger diagnosis, doesn’t apply to Pudding, and should never have been given to her.

“Her language skills did not continue to develop as expected.”

Rather, she meets the criteria for the new DSM-V Autism Spectrum Disorder, with the following additions:

– Language Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified

-Disorder of Written Expression

-Learning Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified

and maintaing her Motor Coordination Disorder and ADHD diagnoses. Just words in stark black and white.

According to the American Dream, we would work hard and overcome these obstacles, not face more and more challenges as time goes on. As happens every time I read one of these reports, I’m heartbroken at the difference between the way we view the same child.

Am I not working hard enough to make things better for her?

Hours after reading this report, I placed my girl on the bus for her last day of Kindergarten, and I saw the contrast I needed from the cold and clinical report. She made an incredible achievement this year. She has learned to read and write, advocate for herself, make consistent progress, and graduate from kindergarten.

She has gained the affections and support of her peers and teachers. She has faced the challenge of a new environment, and excelled there. She has earned her spot in a school, and a place in the community. She has made me proud every single day.

And that is The Autism Dream for us. It isn’t that we can work away her challenges, it is that she can grow and develop and match them. On paper, she doesn’t look good. In person, she is incredible.

I’d be lying if I said this was easy. I’m crying as I type. But I know there isn’t a report that could be written which could ever capture how amazing this child is. I know, because I’ve written about her for years now, and I’ve barely scratched the surface of everything I could say about her.

The Autism Dream has never been about changing her to fit in, but revealing this world and our societal standards for the imperfections that they are. She shows me truth, joy, and love. She shows me what is truly importantl, and I never want to wake up from that dream.